The Duplo
by KomodoDags
Summary: The local animal Shelter is under attack by the Duplo. The Police have no choice but to get involved. /Please R&R!/ (A little request that got way out of hand)


"Today of all days…" Badcop slid out of his car and slammed the door harshly, the sound making little difference over the commotion going on around him.

He had gotten a call earlier that there was problem downtown; in the local Animal Shelter. The one who had called him had failed to make a point of how serious the situation was, causing him to be a few minutes later than he usually would be.

"Finally decided to show up?"

His scowl re-directed from the building to a new officer nearby, "Maybe if you told me what's goin' on, I could be more help."

"It's a tight situation; the Duplo's got into the Animal Shelter and we think there's still a few employees in there as well as over thirty dogs and a few cats." She winced, jamming a thumb towards a few more cop cars parked nearby, "A few of ours went in there too, but they haven't come out yet much less radioed an update."

Badcop stiffened, the thought of the Duplos twisting his gut, "Alright, we gotta get someone else in there."

He opened the door to his vehicle again and began to pull his weapons out. It would take more than a Macarov to take those things out; laser pistols came in handy in these situations due to their accuracy and ability to repeatedly fire without needing to be re-loaded.

"Can I come, too?"

Sighing, he glanced up at his mostly quiet passenger, Goodcop, "You haven't recovered yet and this is too dangerous. Let me handle this."

"C'mon, you keep telling me that; just give me a chance. I'll be fine, honest!" Through the many still healing scars on his face, his brother managed a reassuring smile.

"Mm…." He firmly set his weapon on his holster and folded his arms. There wasn't much time; he had to get in there soon and he didn't feel like having this conversation again. Goodcop was kind, but extremely persistent and this particular argument was getting on his nerves, "Fine, but you'll be staying behind me at all times."

"Great!" With a shaky hand, he undid his seatbelt and crawled out of the car.

They both made their way cautiously towards the shelter, Badcop in the lead and painfully aware of the way his partner limped after him, yet another bit of damage done from…well, he shook his head to clear his thoughts and re-focused on the mission, "Ok, here's the run-down: we get in; save the employees, release the animals, get rid of the Duplo, and get out not necessarily in that order. Got it?"

"Roger."

It was quiet inside; a little too quiet compared to the many panicked sounds and voices outside. It was dark, too; only pale light filtered in through a few windows and illuminated the various scattered papers and supplies. Freshly kicked up dust danced through the air.

He wondered if there were even any survivors. Wouldn't the Duplo be making more sound than this? But it was a big building; perhaps they were all just in a separate section.

Goodcop spoke up softly, breaking the dangerous silence, "I sure hope all of those pets are all okay…"

"You should be more concerned about the people trapped in here, bud." He sighed, inching forward and aiming his gun into every room they came across, only to find each scattered but empty.

"The animals are just as important! We can't ignore them."

"Yes, but people come first." He argued back, annoyed.

A click of the tongue, "But what if we find a kennel first? Then what would we d-" The words broke off as a horrible snarl sliced through the air, ringing through their ears with the terrible effect of making the hair on the back of their necks prickle, "Duplo." He squeaked, hands starting to shake again.

"Calm down, we'll get it before it gets us…" Badcop's reassurance was more to himself than anyone; he watched the end of the hall, waiting for it to show itself and half wishing that he was at home right now.

There was a shadow before there was a being, sliding along the back wall and silhouetting the creature's grotesque features with terrible accuracy. Then, a gleaming eye showed itself, peeking around the corner and staring straight at them. A glistening pair of teeth followed along with a long arm which touched the ground to steady itself. All was suddenly still.

Badcop was only slightly aware of the fact that Goodcop was starting to breathe heavier and heavier behind him, entire body becoming victim to a senseless trembling.

"I-it's just as afraid of us as we are of it…" He hissed through his teeth, taking careful aim.

Unfortunately, that did not seem to be true, for the second he took his eyes off of the Duplo to eye the other it raced down the hall, straight for them. Goodcop gave a strangled yelp and fired several mis-placed shots, only seeming to add to the confusion as a few glanced off the walls and blew into anything they hit.

Realizing that it was gaining too fast, Badcop turned the gun around in his hand and drew his arm back. The Duplo reached its launching ground, just a few feet away, and sprang into the air; mouth stretched open into a hideous scream that echoed in his ears as he threw all of his strength into his arm and smashed it into the side of its face.

His entire limb buzzed as he drew it back to himself and watched his enemy sprawl to the ground, "Filthy thing."

"Is…is is dead?" Goodcop had caught most of his breath and inched sideways to get a better look.

They both watched as its side began to unsteadily heave up and down, "No, just unconscious…let's keep moving." Badcop flipped his gun back to its correct position and began to move forward at a steadier pace, trying to prove mostly to himself how little that experience had shook him. He was, after all, the Head Officer and he couldn't afford panicking at times like this. If the rookie did it? No big deal; but if the chief did, everyone else lost their courage. He had learned that the hard way when he had first gotten the job.

"I…think I heard something whine, like a dog."

He rolled his eyes in frustration, "What did we just talk about?"

"I know, 'people first'…but it wouldn't hurt just to check it out. Maybe it's a person?"

It was a point; not a great one but it was still valid, "Alright…make it quick." He watched, arms folding but guard still up as Goodcop limped through a large grey door nearby, "Yell if ya need help…"

Impatiently he waited for a few moments, drumming his fingers on his arm, listening to the soft click of shoes and the occasional metallic clank or grind that signified the other was moving something. After it had sounded like much rummaging had been done, he heard Goodcop give a small gasp, "I-I found him!"

He jumped and dashed into the room, quickly making his way over to his partner and finding that what he had expected to be a possibly injured civilian was…

A mutt.

Not even a particularly appealing or young one. Graying fur took up most of its neck and had spread over its muzzle. Its once sturdy ears drooped close to its head in limp piles and little clumps of matted hair stuck up in odd places all over its scrawny form. Its eyes darted warily between the both of them, hackles raised but tail twitching at the ends.

He took a deep breath, "No."

Goodcop crouched down, earning a small growl in his direction, "Don't be heartless, he's scared and he needs our help!"

"No…he's old and there's not much left in him. We'd be better movin' on and coming back for him later."

"He could be dead by then! He needs us now, not later; I'll fix him up and I'll be quick." Without waiting for an allowance, he stood and began to hurriedly gather what he could from the scattered debris around them, including a broken dog treat, which he placed in the palm of his hand and gingerly held up to the mutt.

With a sniff, it cautiously accepted the gift.

From that point Badcop stood back, feeling like they were wasting time but not having the heart to drive his anger any further, and did more waiting. He managed to pick up faint sounds in the distance, some of which sounded like human voices.

"Okay, we're good to go! For now, that is." Carefully, Goodcop wrapped his arms around the now mostly trusting dog and lifted it.

"No, no, leave it! It'll just slow us down!"

He received a glare, "Devlin's comin' with us."

"You…named it. Great."Starting to feel a little defeated, he simply pushed his shades up further up on his nose and moved on, "We've been wasting a lot of time; let's make up for it, shall we?" It was almost a warning; a not-so-gentle shout-out to express how angry he really was at the moment. He sensed it had been ignored as he heard Goodcop go on and puppy-talk Devlin.

The one-sided tension built as they continued deeper and deeper into the seemingly never-ending halls of the Shelter. What he had heard earlier, those voices, were lost and he couldn't even pick up a trace anymore. It was too quiet.

Then, a flash of red lit up the hall and flew just past his ear. He drew in a sharp intake of air before firing in the direction it had come from several times.

A few yells echoed back, at first sounding monstrous, but then changing in his ears to human.

"_Hey!"_

"Don't shoot!"

"_We thought you were one of them!"_

He pulled his arms down and stared in disbelief at the figures at the end of the hall. It must be those others that had been talked about outside. He cleared his throat, "They told me you came in here; I just figured since you didn't come out you were all done for."

The other officers, still crouching, made their way over to them, "You wish…" One grumbled, "Nah, there was a couple of those Duplo things coming our way and since Frank here lost his gun we were outnumbered so we decided to hide."

Frank looked very abashed.

Badcop jerked his chin, "You get out-"Then pointed at the rest, "You come with me. We'll need everyone we can get; I have a feelin' those Duplos are all crowded in the back."

Team now much larger, they were able to move on with more confidence than before. Goodcop slowed and lingered in the back, seeming to be more concerned about Devlin by this point than anyone or anything else.

Several times they passed a room where they could hear the terrified complaints of various animals, but Badcop, now ready to go home and be finished with this, kept everyone's attention on following him by several tones of voice that he had mastered over the years. It was quite efficient, actually. That and several who respected him more than Goodcop knew enough than to anger him or go against orders.

"_Help!"_

A pitiful cry reached them, followed by a few awful sounds that could only be made by the Duplos, "Get ready…" He grumbled, gripping his weapon more securely, not wanting a replay of his first encounter, "I heard a hit in the eyes will bring them down…so, try to aim for the head."

A crash sounded from the double doors directly in-front of them along with another plead for help. Badcop glanced back to make sure everyone was prepared, and scowled at Goodcop when he saw that he was still lugging around that dog. He took a few paces back, "Put it down and grab your gun; we're going ta need you."

Reluctantly, Goodcop gently set Devlin along the edge of the wall and patted his head, "Be good, I'll be right back." He stood and took his place behind them again.

"Alright." Badcop felt almost hesitant to go in there, but darnit all if he was going to let anyone else die because of the Duplos, "Let's go."

He kicked the doors open, ensuing instant chaos.

The creatures seemed to have been swarming together and instantly sprang upon them when the doors swung forward. The dark room lit up red with laser shots that either hit their target or bounced crazily off of the walls and a few officers cried out in pain when claw met skin.

The terrified employees who had found refuge behind kennel bars screamed at the sudden change, some in shock and others wildly encouraging, hopes of getting out alive causing emotions to do a 180'.

Badcop winced when he felt something sink into his foot, but, gritting his teeth tightly, simply fired down and hit the perpetrator square between the eyes. It hissed with rage, but tumbled to the ground a second later.

He directed his attention to those on the ceiling who were waiting for a chance to drop onto one of their heads. He shot a few down, but had not noticed a particular one who had taken up a patch just above him. Razor-like talons dug into his shoulders and something squeezed tightly around his neck, cutting off his air.

He gasped and stumbled back, nearly dropping his gun in a hopeless attempt to pry it off. The iron grip wouldn't budge and he tried to fire beside his head, but missed entirely. Little dots danced in-front of his eyes and he took another desperate wheeze for air to no avail. He felt his shoulders hit a wall and realized that he had blindly stumbled backwards into it. His legs began to give out and he choked.

Then, the grip relaxed unexpectedly. He took a much needed deep breath, yanked the lifeless body off and tossed it across the floor.

Goodcop's hand shoved before him, "Need some help?"

Surprised, he realized that he had slid to the ground. He grabbed the hand and let his brother help him up, stumbling a little as his vision returned, "…Thanks…"

"No problem, we almost got all of 'em!" He smiled, but his eyes were worried.

They both winced as a bright flash of light swept over them. When it had subsided Badcop scoped around, satisfied with the number of Duplo bodies that scattered the floor, but raised his gun again when he noticed two of his team breathing hard and leaning against the wall, injured.

He felt suddenly weary, but a spark of hope lingered in his mind. It was almost over. It was almost over…

He shot a few more times at the corners where a few were stashing themselves and glanced, out of the corner of his eye, one approaching Goodcop, "Watch out!"

However, before Goodcop could turn around, or before the Duplo could perform its attack, a snarling ball of grey fur smashed into the side of it, throwing it to the ground.

"Devlin!"

The now spirited mutt continued to throw itself into the creature with an un-earthly rage, teeth clipping through flesh. The two officers watched, stunned, as he fought the fight of a much younger dog. The Duplo, sensing that it had met its match, began to howl and struggle to escape, but nevertheless became the victim.

"L-let's help him!" Goodcop fired several times, aiming carefully.

Badcop stood back, knowing that it didn't make any difference. He began to shoot the last of them and down and realized, with the smallest of smiles, that they had won. It was a victory all around.

The employees silently crept out of their prison and scampered out of the room, intent on getting to safety.

"Alright, boy." Goodcop knelt down and pulled the dog away from the unrecognizable carcass, "It's dead, you got 'im." He stroked its side until the fierce growls faded into soft whines.

"I'm assuming you're not going to leave this place without that dog, eh?" He frowned, but inwardly felt gratefulness swell up towards Devlin. He had saved his brother.

"Nope, but don't worry!" He held up a hand, "I'll take care of him! Maybe him and Brigid'll get along?"

"Hmm…maybe. Now let's get out of here." He stuck his gun in his holster and turned to leave,


End file.
